Through A Child's Eyes
by Neko-chan -Silvered Tongue
Summary: Jareth's life as a child. What was his life like? How did he become so cold? All will be eventually answered......
1. Old Soul

Through a Child's Eyes

By: Neko-chan

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.......so.....don't sue. ;þ

A/N: I was working on The Labyrinth: Another Tale....The Sequel......and I thought of this as a story idea. I hope you like it! So....review and tell me what you think, okie? I want to know if I should continue. =^.^=

  
  


The small child yawned deeply and opened his eyes. Seeing that the sky was just barely touched with dawn's pastel colors, he burrowed deeper under the covers, intending to sleep for just a little while longer. Slowly, his eyes closed shut once again.

He was once again falling back asleep when a mocking laughter echoed throughout the castle. The child opened his eyes once more and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from them. "Daddy's at it again," he commented softly to himself. _Looks like that girl finally managed to get through the Labyrinth....._ he thought to himself, grimacing slightly at the memory of the whiny girl when his father had first told her to go through the Labyrinth to get the child back. All in all, Jareth hadn't really thought that this particular girl would solve the maze. She was ditzy, and the Labyrinth must have gone to the extreme to get her to the castle in time.

Climbing out of his huge four poster bed, Jareth beckoned to his clothes, making them fly towards him. Quickly, he dressed and ran out of his room, his small feet making a small pitter-patter as he ran down the marble corridors, knowing exactly where to find his father and that girl. And he was right. His father was in the Escher room, dressed in a white cape of owls' feathers and white silk. The girl stared at him wide-eyed, believing all of the nonsense that his father was spouting at her. 

Jareth frowned and stood behind a limestone pillar, observing what was happening below. Love, indeed. His father loved and enjoyed manipulating the people who came to his Labyrinth, and it was so easy to manipulate the females who came. All his father had to do was start spouting verses of love and devotion. Of 'turning the world upside down......all for you.' Overall, Jareth thought that it was extremely amusing.

The girl's eyes misted over, and she stepped closer, completely forgetting about the little sister that she had wished here. Still the same. Once the Goblin King promised power and love, everyone who came here forgot all about the person that they had wished away. It was never different. After all, humans only cared for themselves, and damn anyone else who got in their way. Even if that person was only a child, no more than six months old.

Jareth's lip curled. Even though he was only five years old, he had already begun to despise humans. They were cruel, even more so than the goblins. At least the goblins retained a sense of loyalty to their King and each other. Humans felt no such loyalty. What was that saying that they always said? Oh, yes: Survival of the fittest. _Complete rubbish_, he thought, watching as the girl continued to fall under the spell that his father was weaving.

All too soon, the clock struck the thirteenth hour and the girl disappeared, returning back to her own time and world. The Goblin King gestured, and the baby that was left behind materialized in his hands. Rocking it, he smiled down at it, his smile cold and sinister. Jareth closed his eyes, and tried to shut out the noises as the baby transformed. This was the part that he hated the most.

And the baby began to turn grotesque, it's skin blackening and turning thick, it's eyes enlarging and turning acid yellow. It's nose lengthened and soon was covered in warts. It's hair became wiry and coarse, going every which way. It screamed, terrified of the transformation it was going through and the pain that shot through it's body and it's limbs lengthened. But, luckily, the transformation was soon done. And in his father's arms, instead of a child, there was a goblin.

Jareth smiled and stepped forward. It looked like he'd be getting a new playmate. This time, though, he'd have to remember not to through it in the Bog of Eternal Stench if it angered or annoyed him. Such a pity, after all.


	2. Alone

Through A Child's Eyes

By: Neko-chan

A/N: I know that some of you thought that the previous chapter would be the only chapter in this fic. Well, you were wrong! D Anyway, here's chapter two...and, eventually, all will be revealed. All will be revealed in time... *dramatic music plays* ^_^

  
  


Chapter Two

Jareth walked down the marble-floored hallway. His footsteps echoed around him, surrounding him with their lonely sound. Lonely...so very lonely. His father had left--once again on another of his 'missions.' And the goblins had gone with him.

The young boy's lip curled in disdain. His father, Simiaron, continuously visited the Mortal Realm, looking for young girls to trick and for more goblin subjects. After all, more goblins were made each time a girl visited the Labyrinth.

So stupid...so easily manipulative. Why would anyone bother with a creature as vain and as stupid as they are? Jareth thought to himself as he wandered deeper into the castle. Unknowingly, his leather-clad feet took him down to the dungeon, where the latest of Simiaron's goblins lay huddled in a cell.

The young Prince paused for a minute, staring through the bars into the large yellow orbs that were the goblin's eyes.

"Home..." it whimpered. "Want to go home... Mommy and Daddy and Tanya..."

Jareth snorted. "This is your home now. Those other people didn't want you. So why would you want to go back to them? We'd probably treat you much better than they ever did. And besides, you saw how Tanya--your own sister--preferred my father's lies over her love for you. So what's the point of returning?" 

But the little goblin was still too young to understand. "Mama!" it wailed. "Daddy! Tanya!!!"

Jareth frowned and slowly stepped back away from the goblin. Why? he thought. After all that happened, why does the little one still want its family? Why? What is so important about them? It'll eventually learn that here, family doesn't matter...if you don't survive, then you die. That's the way this Realm is run...the way it's always been run.

Thinking deeply to himself, Jareth made his way back up the stairway, his eyes unfocused as he mulled this over. What was so important about family? Personally, he couldn't see what the little goblin was missing. His father was more often than not gone, traveling in the Mortal Realm or playing yet another of his 'games.' So, of course, Jareth didn't know what true family was...did that even matter?

At this, the young Prince stood silently in the hallway. Did it...did it really matter? What would it be like to have a real family? A family who cared for him...a family who loved him? Would he then understand why the pitiful creature continued to wail for its home and family?

Jareth's frown deepened; he snapped his fingers and quickly disappeared...only to reappear just outside the Labyrinth's walls.

"Your Highness!" a gruff voice exclaimed in surprise. Blinking in puzzlement, Jareth turned around and was amused to see a little elderly dwarf--rare in the Labyrinth--collecting shiny stones to add to his collection...which was attached to a belt on his waist.

"Oh, hello Hogwart," the young Prince said absently as he returned his attention to the land that lay before him. Empty for miles around...no life, no water, no anything. Just death. Or, if a person was cynical, they would say that it was as empty and as dead as the heart beating in the Goblin Prince's chest. But, then again, I'm not that type of cynical person.

"Hoggle," the dwarf corrected automatically. Unknown to him, Jareth allowed a small smile to flicker across his face. He knew that the dwarf's name was Hoggle, but it entertained him to watch the dwarf mumble his actual name while watching the Prince for retribution. Not very nice, Jareth knew. But it was still funny.

"Which is the way out of this Realm?" Jareth asked softly as he continued to look out over the desert-like land.

"No one knows. No one except for the King and his closest goblins, of course," Hoggle answered slowly. "Why? Are you planning on goin' out there, your Highness?"

Uncertainty, death, no magic, no food, no good clothes, dangerous creatures...Jareth knew that he would face all of these things and more if he went. But...how could he not? He already told himself that he would go. He had to go... "Yes," the Prince finally answered.

And that was that.


End file.
